Living Villages

Last updated

Living Villages is an organisation in the United Kingdom established in 1993 as part of The Athena Foundation UK (now dissolved) and as The Living Village Trust in 1997 [1] [2] by Carole Salmon and Bob Tomlinson. [3] The objectives are to encourage sustainable development through appropriate design and ethical commercial practice. The first project of five environmentally friendly houses called Bells Court in Bishops Castle, Shropshire, UK built in 1997, and the 40 house eco-neighbourhood called The Wintles, also in Bishops Castle, were designed to demonstrate that new housing can be eco-friendly, attractive and beneficial to a local community. [4] [5]

Contents

History

Living Villages was established in 1993 as a non-profit, prompted by positive responses to a proposal for an eco-village based on Permaculture principles and design inspired by Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language .[ citation needed ]

They started the Wintles project in 1999 as a new pedestrian neighbourhood with a high degree of self-sufficiency for the town of Bishops Castle on 17 acres which included houses, shared gardens, allotments for food production, woodland and amenity areas which include a labyrinth orchard designed by Keith Critchlow. Architects Pat Borer and David Lee worked on the initial layout with contributions from Christopher Alexander and Leon Krier, but the final designs were produced by Bob Tomlinson and became the working model for the design principles. Ecostruct were the building partners.[ citation needed ]

In 2007, Living Villages won the Housebuilder of the Year Award] for The Wintles. [6]

The Wintles was cited by Planning Minister Nick Boles as one of the UK Government's favourite housing schemes]. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Alexander</span> British-American architect (1936–2022)

Christopher Wolfgang John Alexander was an Austrian-born British-American architect and design theorist. He was an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley. His theories about the nature of human-centered design have affected fields beyond architecture, including urban design, software, and sociology. Alexander designed and personally built over 100 buildings, both as an architect and a general contractor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecovillage</span> Community with the goal of becoming more sustainable

An ecovillage is a traditional or intentional community with the goal of becoming more socially, culturally, economically, and/or ecologically sustainable. An ecovillage strives to produce the least possible negative impact on the natural environment through intentional physical design and resident behavior choices. It is consciously designed through locally owned, participatory processes to regenerate and restore its social and natural environments. Most range from a population of 50 to 250 individuals, although some are smaller, and traditional ecovillages are often much larger. Larger ecovillages often exist as networks of smaller sub-communities. Some ecovillages have grown through like-minded individuals, families, or other small groups—who are not members, at least at the outset—settling on the ecovillage's periphery and participating de facto in the community. There are currently more than 10,000 ecovillages around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Urbanism</span> Urban design movement promoting environmentally friendly land use

New Urbanism is an urban design movement that promotes environmentally friendly habits by creating walkable neighbourhoods containing a wide range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually influenced many aspects of real estate development, urban planning, and municipal land-use strategies. New Urbanism attempts to address the ills associated with urban sprawl and post-Second World War suburban development.

The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, and former burgh, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and employment opportunities of Glasgow. At its peak, during the 1930s, the wider Gorbals district had swollen in population to an estimated 90,000 residents, giving the area a very high population density of around 100,000 per sq. mi. (40,000/km2). Redevelopment after WWII has taken many turns, and the area's population is substantially smaller today. The Gorbals was also home to 16 high rise flat blocks; only six are standing as of 2024, and two of them are set to come down some point this year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castleton, Derbyshire</span> Human settlement in England

Castleton is a village in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, England, at the western end of the Hope Valley on the Peakshole Water, a tributary of the River Noe, between the Dark Peak to the north and the White Peak to the south. The population was 642 at the 2011 Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishop's Castle</span> Town in Shropshire, England

Bishop's Castle is a market town in the south west of Shropshire, England. According to the 2011 Census it had a population of 1,893.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castlemilk</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Castlemilk is a district of Glasgow, Scotland. It lies to the far south of the city centre, adjacent to the Croftfoot and Simshill residential areas within the city to the north-west, the town of Rutherglen - neighbourhoods of Spittal to the north-east and Fernhill to the east, Linn Park and its golf course to the west, and the separate village of Carmunnock further south across countryside.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Malling</span> Human settlement in England

West Malling is a market town in the Tonbridge and Malling district of Kent, England. It has a population of 2,590.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stansted Mountfitchet</span> Village in Essex, England

Stansted Mountfitchet is an English village and civil parish in Uttlesford district, Essex, near the Hertfordshire border, 35 miles (56 km) north of London. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 5,533, increasing to 6,011 at the 2011 census. By the 2021 census it had increased to 8621. The village is served by Stansted Mountfitchet railway station.

Adamstown is a planned suburban development in western County Dublin, located circa 16 km from Dublin city centre, in the jurisdiction of South Dublin County Council. The first new town in Ireland since Shannon Town in the 1960s, the development-in-progress is based on a 220 hectare Strategic Development Zone site south of the N4 road and Lucan, west of Liffey tributary the Griffeen River and north of the Grand Canal. No date has been set for the official granting of any specific long-term official status but development is underway since 2005 and as of 2015, perhaps 4,500 of a planned population of 25,000 were resident. As per the 2022 census, the population is just above 10,000. The planned scale of development is 9,000 to 10,000 dwellings, with aligned supporting infrastructure including public transport links.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairford Leys</span> COUNCIL Estate in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England

Fairford Leys is a housing development in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, designed in the urban village style, with the street and block layout making it more friendly to pedestrians and cyclists. The three main developers of the development were bound by a design code to ensure architectural cohesion and this is maintained through covenants on the deeds of each property.

Low Hill is in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is north-east of Wolverhampton city centre, within the Bushbury South and Low Hill ward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Easterhouse</span> Housing estate and suburb of Glasgow, Scotland

Easterhouse is a suburb of Glasgow, Scotland, 6 miles (10 km) east of the city centre on land gained from the county of Lanarkshire as part of an expansion of Glasgow before the Second World War. The area is on high ground north of the River Clyde and south of the River Kelvin and Campsie Fells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Bytham</span> Village and civil parish of around 300 houses in South Kesteven, Lincolnshire, England

Castle Bytham is a village and civil parish of around 300 houses in South Kesteven, Lincolnshire, England. It is located 9 miles (14 km) north of Stamford and 9 miles (14 km) west of Bourne.The population was measured at 768 in 317 households at the 2011 census.

Killough is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the Irish Sea shore near Ardglass, five miles southeast of Downpatrick. It is a conservation area notable for its sycamore-lined main street. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 845 people.

The EcoDensity Initiative was officially launched in 2006 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in conjunction with the World Urban Forum. The initiative was a response to deconcentration of urban land use due to urban sprawl. The initiative used density, design and land use as catalysts towards livability, affordability and environmental sustainability. Some of the program's objectives were to reduce car reliance, deliver more efficient urban land use, improve green energy systems and build a resilient and adaptable community. In high-density urban areas, utilizing the existing infrastructure and transit and community amenities tends to lead towards a more sustainable and livable state. Accordingly, EcoDensity was designed to strategically enhance densification with the primary aim of efficiently structured neighbourhoods, denser urban-patterns and increased affordable housing.

Eco-towns are a government-sponsored programme of new towns to be built in England, which are intended to achieve exemplary standards of sustainability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiny-house movement</span> Architectural movement advocating smaller living spaces

The tiny-house movement is an architectural and social movement promoting the reduction and simplification of living spaces. According to the 2018 International Residential Code Appendix Q, a tiny house or "micro-house" is defined as "a home with a maximum floor area of 400 sq ft, excluding lofts". Proponents suggest that tiny homes could offer low-cost, eco-friendly alternatives within the housing market and serve as a transitional housing option for homeless individuals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumbernauld</span> Town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland

Cumbernauld is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated town in North Lanarkshire, positioned in the centre of Scotland's Central Belt. Geographically, Cumbernauld sits between east and west, being on the Scottish watershed between the Forth and the Clyde; however, it is culturally more weighted towards Glasgow and the New Town's planners aimed to fill 80% of its houses from Scotland's largest city to reduce housing pressure there.

Low-impact development (LID) has been defined as "development which through its low negative environmental impact either enhances or does not significantly diminish environmental quality".

References

  1. BBC How We Built Britain ,
  2. BBC Newsnight ,
  3. Daily Telegraph ,
  4. This is life as it should be lived ,
  5. Inside Britain's happiest eco-town
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20090705152052/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertymarket/3360753/Your-New-Home-Awards-Simply-the-best.html
  7. Klettner, Andrea (28 June 2013). "The government's favourite housing developments". Building Design. Retrieved 31 March 2023.